Evan Saugstad: Facebook censorship – election interference or ineptitude?

On October 5^th I reposted an article on my Facebook (FB) page by Dan Davies, Independent candidate for North Peace in BC’s October 19^th provincial election.  The article was Davies’ announcement that the Honourable Richard Neufeld’s was endorsing Davies in the upcoming election.

The announcement read;

“On October 19th, choose Dan Davies, a lifelong resident who has provided experienced conservative leadership, to represent Peace River North.”

The Honourable Richard Neufeld

Conservative Senator for BC 2008 – 2019

To learn more about Dan’s vision, or to donate, volunteer, or request a lawn sign, please visit https://dandavies.ca/

Authorized by Marco Schwab, Financial Agent, 250-264-2944

On October 7^th I received notice from FB that they had removed my post stating that; “This goes against our Community standards on spam”.

I appealed their decision and was told by their bot that it would take 3 – 4 days for FB to review and hear back from them.  As I write this on the 10^th, I have not heard back but assume I will along with a bland acknowledgement that it isn’t spam.  But then again, one cannot assume too much when it comes to FB police.

I asked Davies if he was aware of his posts being taken down as spam and he was not as no one else had brought his to his attention.  He then checked and found one of his posts had also been removed for the same stated reason (spam).  A quick check of his analytics appeared to show others also had their FB posts removed.  Davies has also appealed and not yet heard back from FB. 

Sooo, is this an innocuous act by an algorithm sensing something that is not there, or is it an attempt of others to try to influence FB to interfere in BC’s election process for their own benefit?  Not sure if FB will ever tell me why this post was selected, but I have my own suspicions.

Recent posting on FB by persons identifying themselves as supporting BC Conservatives are vehemently objecting to Davies using the word “Conservative” in his promotional materials. Questioning Davies’ use of the word “conservative” was also raised Wednesday evening at the debate at the Lido Theatre.

If I had to guess on why FB removed this post, I would say someone (or more) who do not wish to see Davies elected as our member of the Legislature (MLA) made false statements to FB that the word “Conservative” belongs to the Conservative Party of BC and the use of it by Davies in his materials misleads them, that when they click on the link to Davies’ website they think they are going to the Conservative Party of BC website.   Davies website and published materials are clear on who he is and nowhere on the website or otherwise does it reference as being part of the “Conservative Party of BC”.

For the record, Davies is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and unsuccessfully tried to seek their nomination in 2015 federal election.

All fair in love, war and elections?  Election interference is ok when it is against someone who you do not like or support?  Not really acceptable behaviour, either by FB or those complainants, but then again, maybe not so unexpected given the mentality of those whose mouths open before their brain engages and that FB just buys their story.

Evan, on a day that one can begin voting.  Get out and cast your ballot for the person who you think will represent you the best.